Love & Dismay
by Casper5
Summary: What if Angel never left Sunnydale? Things start to change, will Buffy's and Angel's relationship hold?
1. Default Chapter

Title: Love & Dismay  
  
Characters: Buffy, Angel, Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia  
  
Category: Romance/Supernatural  
  
Summary: What if Angel never left Sunnydale after Graduation Part II. Things star happening that confuses Buffy but Angel may be the one thing she's sure of.  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. I'm not special enough to be the one and only Joss Whedon.  
  
AN: Okay things aren't in any order so bear with me.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Buffy sat on the grave, literally waiting for the dead to rise. It was a dark night and a quarter moon shone from above. Suddenly there was a crunch behind her and Buffy spun a kick into the chest of her stalker.  
  
There was a grunt of pain as the figure hit the ground. Buffy found herself looking into a pair of soft brown eyes.  
  
"Nice to see you too," the man said flashing a half grin.  
  
"Oh, sorry Angel. You know you shouldn't sneak up on me," she said shaking her stake in his face. "You never know when I might stake you." As an after thought he added, "Not on purpose of course."  
  
He shrugged. "Won't do it again."  
  
"Good," she said smiling. Buffy held out her hand to help him up.  
  
"Thanks. So, waiting for a vampire to rise?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah. Why?" she said looking at him. However, he was looking past her.  
  
"Because there it goes," he said running past her, landing a punch into the grotesque face. He gripped the vamp's hands tightly behind its back, keeping it from moving. That was when Buffy came in.  
  
She drove a stake into the vamp's heart and afterwards dusted herself off. Then she looked at Angel. "I've got to got meet Xander and Willow at the Bronze. It's sorta like a goodbye summer, hello college celebration," she said. " Or funeral," she said as an after thought.  
  
He looked down. "Oh, I thought we could train..or something," he said slowly, picking his words carefully.  
  
"Well, you can come," Buffy said smiling. He looked so cute when he tried to suggest a date. It wasn't often, however. Usually they trained together or patrolled. She knew it was for good reason. They had to be careful. Buffy couldn't let what happened in her junior year happen again.  
  
"Xander's gonna be there?" Angel asked, uncertainly.  
  
"Yeah, but you can ignore him. I mean half the time I do and he's one of my best friends," she begged almost begging him to come. Xander and Angel hated each other. Buffy had only a basic idea why. Both Xander and Angel had fallen inlove with her and competed for her. But she fell in love only with Angel. Xander was just a friend.  
  
"Okay," he said smiling, taking her hand in his. As usual his hand was cool. Of course a vampire's hand was always cool. But Angel wasn't a regular vamp. He had a soul.  
  
They entered the Bronze. It was a dark place in a half good condition. The Bronze wasn't always clean and there wasn't always a good band but it was the coolest place in Sunnydale.  
  
Willow spotted them from where she sat and called them over. After seeing Angel she pulled another chair from the table next to her. As they made their way to the table Buffy heard Xander ask, "What's the chair for, Will?"  
  
Willow pointed over Xander's shoulder and he turned. The smile that was on his face quickly disappeared. And then in his abrupt way he asked, What's Dead Boy doing here?"  
  
Angel had a sour look on his face when he replied," Do you have to call me that? I'm guessing you can't come up with anything new."  
  
Xander thought for a second with his mouth open, about to speak. But then he turned away in defeat.  
  
Buffy smiled. For Xander and Angel this was almost friendly. Then she pulled Angel over to the two chairs Willow had pulled up.  
  
"This is going to suck," Xander said loudly. When he looked up at the questioning looks he was getting he added," You are all going to college and only me and De-I mean Angel's out of the mix."  
  
Cordelia did a mock smile. Then in a vile burst of air she said," At least you can get started in that wonderful career in hot dogs. I know you'll go far."  
  
"I am so glad to have your support," he replied sarcastically.  
  
"I'm so excited. You know with the dorms and the classes and the dorms," Willow said in her usual giddy self.  
  
"I wish we could dorm together. But no they have to put me with someone named Kathy," Buffy said in regret.  
  
Cordelia was always blunt but her next comment reminded Buffy of this. "It's not like you'll be spending much time there," she said glancing over at Angel. But then as a warning she added, "Just don't get with a happy."  
  
Both Angel and Buffy's eyes spread in embarrassment. They quickly let go of each others hands and scooted away.  
  
For the first time Oz spoke up. "That should do it," he said with a grin. Buffy was looking for an escape when a slow song came on.  
  
"Angel let's dance," she said as she pulled him off his seat and to the dance floor. She put her arms around his neck and he put his arms around her waist. They swayed to the music; Buffy's eyes were closed.  
  
However, soon they shot open. Behind her someplace was an evil. Something she already faced but she couldn't place when or where or what.  
  
She spun around, scouting the crowd for the source. Buffy spotted a bleached blonde head of hair. "Spike," she muttered so only Angel could here.  
  
After that he followed her closely as they quietly made their way to Spike. His back was facing them as they creeped up to him. Both Buffy and Angel put a hand on each shoulder, making it so he couldn't move.  
  
"Spike, buddy," Buffy said with a false smile. "You know you shouldn't be drinking. We have to beat this."  
  
"Let's go," Angel said a little more harsher. With the strength of the slayer and her vampire boyfriend Spike could only follow them.  
  
They led him into the alley. Spike shook his shoulders and said," Take your soddin hands off my bloody coat. I can't say I fancy seeing you here but what did I expect?"  
  
"Don't be so..well Spike like," Buffy said. She was angry. Angry enough to shove a stake in a bleached foe's heart. "We had a deal. Which you broke once already. Angel what do you think I'm trying to say?"  
  
"One, two-two strikes you're out," he said counting on his hands. "What a surprise this is strike two."  
  
"Wait one bloody second here," he said holding his hands up. "Why doesn't peaches here get strikes. He's the one I made the deal about," holding up a pointed finger.  
  
"Angel's good," Buffy said simply.  
  
"Yeah but for how long? I saw you two, dancing over there. It won't be long until he gets that moment of happiness and does an ax murderer stunt," Spike said looking around.  
  
"We can control ourselves," Angel said taking a step towards Spike. Angel was about o grab him when Spike made a run for it.  
  
"Damn, I was looking forward to kicking some bleached butt," Buffy said sadly. "Wlk me home?" she asked Angel.  
  
He was still looking off into the distance, in deep thought. Her words, however, brought him back out of his thoughts. "Yeah. Sure," he said softly and they set off through the distance.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
How'd you like. Granted its not too good but it may be worth a few reviews. Next chapter they go to college and meet the initiative. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Belongs to Joss Whedon blah blah blah  
  
Artemis- Sorry it's going to be B/A all the way  
  
Queen Boadicea- She didn't feel like it.  
  
Sorry this took so long but I'm a lazy bum that can't stick to anything. I'm working on like 3 things. Oh, well. Here goes the next chapter:  
  
Artemis- Sorry it's going to be B/A all the way  
  
Love and Dismay  
  
Ch: 2  
  
Buffy walked into the dorm she would be sharing with her new roommate. Towing her stuff behind her she met a girl with a too friendly smile.  
"Hi, I'm Kathy. You must be Buffy. I took the right side I hope you don't mind," she said too quickly.  
"Uh. hi," Buffy said awkwardly. This girl had too much energy. "Not at all." Buffy turned to her side of the room and started unpacking. Kathy was babbling about something and helping her unpack at the same time. She seemed nice but there was definitely something strange about her. Finally, she took out her jewelry box, her last item. She opened it to make sure everything was there.  
"Oh, that's pretty," Kathy said pulling out the claddagh ring Angel had given to her for her 17th birthday.  
"Yeah," Buffy said taking it back. "My boyfriend gave it to me a year and a half ago." Had it really been that short since Angelus was released? "Well, I'm going to take a tour of the campus. I'll see you later," Buffy said, grabbing a jacked and heading outside. As she walked down the path she was so deep into her memories of Angelus that she only snapped out of it when she banged into someone.  
"I'm so sorry," the man said clutching his head.  
"No, it's my fault," Buffy said.  
"Hi, I'm Parker," he said holding out his hand. "You have beautiful eyes."  
"Thanks but it's not going to work. I have a boyfriend," she said and walked away. The guy seemed like a creep. He was probably trying to get with her. Unfortunately, for him, she wasn't interested. A block down she found Willow.  
"Hey, Wills. Did you get your books yet? I'm heading over there," she said as a greeting.  
"Hey, no, and let's go," Willow said excitedly. "I can't believe this is it. We're in college now it's so exciting."  
"Calm down, Will. It won't be that diff." Buffy was saying but they walked into the library revealing it large and crowded. "Different." Soon they were searching for books and they found everything but the psychology textbook. Finally, Buffy spotted it.  
"It's up there. Now if I can only reach it," she grunted as she reached for it. Just as she grabbed it, she dropped it on another person's head. The guy looked up rubbing his head.  
"Thanks," he said as he stood up, handed Buffy the book, and grabbed another one for Willow. "You're in Professor Walsh's class?" he asked interested.  
"Yeah, are you?" Willow asked.  
"No, I'm a TA. I help her out in class. I'm Riley Finn," he said.  
"I'm Buffy and this is Willow. So, is her class hard or anything?" Buffy said.  
"It's pretty hard. If you study you shouldn't have any trouble," he commented as he picked up his books from the floor. "Speaking of it I have to head over to her to set up for the first class. I'll see you then."  
"Bye," Willow and Buffy said. They paid for their books and made their way to Buffy's dorm. "Okay, I'm warning you my roommate's slightly strange," Buffy said as she opened the door.  
They entered the room to find it empty. "That's really good. I wouldn't feel comfortable emptying my weapons trunk in front of her," Buffy commented. Soon they had a few stakes and a crossbow. Sometime while they were in the dorm the sun went down and Buffy was again the slayer.  
"Where do you figure we go?" Willow asked.  
"I'm going to head towards the factory to pay a visit to an old friend named Spike," Buffy said. As they headed down the road Buffy spotted figures creeping in the shadows. She got low to the ground and walked towards the figures with Willow behind her. Buffy grabbed the first one she found and put a stake against its back.  
"Let's see, not a vamp but maybe a demon," Buffy said. The figure spun around revealing a commando person. "Or maybe some weird burglar," she commented.  
"Buffy, right?" the person asked with a familiar voice.  
"It matters. Who are you?" Buffy said as she took the mask quickly off the man's face revealing.  
"Riley Finn." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, it's here. I know it's stupid and bad but maybe it'll get better and longer. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss Whedon.  
  
Okay here it is from the cliffhanger.  
  
Love & Dismay  
  
Ch: 3  
"Riley Finn."  
There was a shocked silence as they stood there watching each other for a long time. "Okay, why don't you tell me why you were creeping in the shadows in a commando outfit?" Buffy asked.  
"I don't have to tell you anything," Riley stated.  
"Umm..., Riley, if you don't mind me saying, she's kind of got you trapped," Willow said hesitantly, obviously shocked. Riley gave them both a dirty look then went to make a break for it only to cry out in pain.  
"You shouldn't have done that," Buffy said. "You made me cause some pain. I should probably teach you a lesson."  
"Buffy, there's no time. Vampire, right over there," Willow said pointing over Buffy's shoulder. She flung Riley to the floor and sent a flying kick into the vampire's stomach. He sent one punch, then another, and then shot a stake right through it's heart. Buffy wiped her clothes off, grimacing.  
"Slaying and in style clothing don't do good together," she mumbled.  
  
Then a voice behind her said, "Direct and right to the point. You should of sensed it sooner but I saw you were busy with something else." Buffy turned to find Rupert Giles in front of her.  
"Same old stuffy Giles," Buffy said grinning. "Since when do you sneak around in the shadows? That's Angel's job. Speaking of him, have you seen him at all? He was supposed to meet me on my patrol."  
"No, I didn't see him since last night. He told me Spike was back in town," Giles said as he took off his glasses and cleaned them. "He already checked the factory. He wasn't there."  
There was a moan from behind them and they turned. Willow was currently pulling Riley over to Buffy. "I think you hurt him," she stated.  
  
"Served him right. Not telling me who he really was and all," Buffy said with a fake pout. "He seems to not be a demon."  
"Do you mean a Hostile? Why would I be one? You fit the mold," he said angrily.  
"If the mold is slaying demons and vampires for a living then I guess I'm a Hostile," she said sarcastically. She pulled him up and started towing him to Giles's house. "Looks like we have a prisoner. The last time we had one, we didn't blow up the high school."  
They were walking for several minutes when commando guys jumped out of the woods. They zapped them all, besides Riley, and they were all knocked unconscious. "Thanks," Riley said massaging his arm. "Let's bring the blonde to the initiative. She seems human but she has abnormal strength." At that, Buffy was hauled through the woods and to the initiative. Little did the men know that they were being followed through the shadows. 


End file.
